A generalized model of relational similarity

This paper introduces two principles for relational similarity, and based on these principles it proposes a novel geometric representation for similarity. The first principle generalizes earlier measures of similarity such as Pearson-correlation and structural equivalence: while correlation and structural equivalence measure similarity by the extent to which the actors have similar relationships to other actors or objects, the proposed model views two actors similar if they have similar relationships to similar actors or objects. The second principle emphasizes consistency among similarities: not only are actors similar if they have similar relationships to similar objects, but at the same time objects are similar if similar actors relate to them similarly. We examine the behavior of the proposed similarity model through simulations, and re-analyze two classic datasets: the Davis et al. (1941) data on club membership and the roll-call data of the U.S. Senate. We find that the generalized model of similarity is especially useful if (1) the dimensions of comparison are not independent, or (2) the data are sparse, or (3) the boundaries between clusters are not clear.     

Families With Young Children: A Review of Research in the 1990s

Research conducted in the past decade on families with young children concentrated on 5 broad topics: (a) the transition to parenthood; (b) the importance of maternal sensitivity for children's attachment security and subsequent adjustment and social competence; (c) the effectiveness of particular parenting styles and practices; (d) interparental, familial, and broader societal factors influencing parenting behaviors and child adjustment; and (e) the impact of family structure and household composition on children's well‐being. Our review documents substantial diversity in family structures, parenting arrangements, and childrearing values and practices both within and across ethnic and racial groups. Collectively, the evidence suggests that in most families with young children, parents and children seem to be doing well. We conclude that substantial work is required to expand the study of families with young children beyond mother‐child dyads in White, middle‐class, two‐parent, first‐marriage families.     

The Effects of Parenting on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Misuse: A Six‐Wave Latent Growth Model

Alcohol use increases throughout adolescence. Based on family socialization theory, it was hypothesized that family factors, particularly parental support and monitoring, would influence individual trajectories in the development of alcohol misuse. Six waves of data were analyzed, based on interviews with 506 adolescents in the general population of a northeastern metropolitan area. Using growth‐curve longitudinal analysis, results show that parenting significantly predicts adolescents' initial drinking levels (intercepts) as well as their rates of increase in alcohol misuse (slope). This study provides evidence that effective parenting is an important factor in preventing alcohol misuse.     

Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within‐group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade.     

Turkish adaptation of the mindful parenting inventories for parents and children

Mindful parenting is a burgeoning global research interest. This study adapted the existing 18-item parallel mindful parenting inventories for parents and children (MPIP/MPIC) into Turkish, examining their psychometric properties and validation in 154 mothers living in Türkiye (M_age = 42.74 years, SD_age = 5.06 years) and their typically developing children (n = 154, M_age = 13.19 years, SD_age = 1.64 years). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed to validate the existing factor structure of the MPIP/MPIC for the Turkish version. Multiple-group CFA was used to test the measurement invariance between mothers and children. Pearson correlations and regression analyses were used to assess the validity of the MPIP/MPIC against established measures of mindfulness and positive parenting (testing convergent validity) and child behaviours (testing concurrent and predictive validity). CFA supported that the Turkish MPIP/MPIC structure was similar to that in the UK, consisting of four dimensions: Self-Regulation in Parenting, Acceptance and Compassion towards Child, Being in the Moment with Child, and Awareness of Child, each with satisfactory internal consistency. Partial measurement invariance was found between parents and children, with mothers reporting somewhat higher scores for the Being in the Moment with Child and Awareness of Child than children. Overall, the convergent and concurrent validity of the Turkish MPIP/MPIC was supported. In addition, MPIP predicted mother-reported child behaviours, and MPIC predicted child-reported child behaviours over and above mothers’ dispositional mindfulness and positive parenting (predictive validity). The Turkish parallel MPIP/MPIC show promise for use with mothers in Türkiye and children to assess mindful parenting.     

Mobile phone parenting in work-separated Chinese families with young children left behind: A qualitative inquiry into parenting dimensions and determinants

Although recent studies have documented how working-elsewhere parents remotely achieved parenting through mobile phones, namely, ‘mobile phone parenting’ (MPP), a comprehensive conceptualization of MPP dimensions remains underexplored. Very few researchers have focused on the case of millions of work-separated families with young left-behind children from rural China from the perspectives of parenting dimensions and parenting process (determinants of parenting). By a thematic analysis approach, this qualitative study analysed interview data from 21 rural-to-urban Chinese migrant parents to characterize and contextualize their MPP behaviours. Narratives were organized into the first theme, MPP dimensions, including parental support (responsivity and autonomy granting), psychological control and behavioural control (directive control, proactive control and harsh punitive control). The second theme reflected that parents' perceptions of their own and offspring's well-being, family media literacy and co-parenting could elucidate the process of these participants' MPP practices. There was evidence for the consistency with universal parenting dimensions, but also for some unique MPP behaviours in the context of migration and remote communications. The findings indicate the importance and ecological complexity of MPP that involves technologies, multiple participants and their interplay. The conceptual framework originating from this study may be used in future studies and guide quantitative assessments of MPP.     

Links between parental autonomy support and psychological control and Chinese emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood

Framed through family life course theory, two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between parenting and Chinese emerging adults' conceptions of adulthood. Study 1 identified five important adult criteria among 763 participants (M_age = 23.13; 54.8% girls) through exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, 616 participants (M_age = 22.51; 71.6% girls) completed measures of parental autonomy support (PAS) and psychological control (PPC), subjective adult status, and adult criteria. Results showed that PAS was positively associated with subjective adult status and endorsement of almost all adult criteria, whereas PPC was both positively and negatively associated with different adult criteria. Findings reveal the influence of family factors on youth transition to adulthood in the Chinese context and may have implications for family based interventions.     

Child Soldiers and Iconography: Portrayals and (Mis)Representations

Over the past decade, child soldiers have inundated the popular media. Images of boys armed with AK47s appear ubiquitous, providing a cautionary tale of innocent childhood gone awry. While these representations turn commonly held assumptions of a protected and innocuous childhood on its head, what they conceal is as provocative as what they reveal. Popular news media tells us little about the children behind the guns or the complexity of their wartime and post‐war experiences. Attempting to move beyond the narrow depictions, this paper explores the realities of a cohort of child soldiers in Sierra Leone and their experiences of armed conflict. Drawing upon in‐depth interviews conducted over a two‐year period, children’s experiences defy the limiting portrayals offered by media discourse. While these children are frequently constructed through a framework of extremes (as either extreme victims, extreme perpetrators or extreme heroes), in reality, the lives of these children fall within the grey, ambiguous and paradoxical zones of each.